Fitness is the biggest commitment you can make to yourself so don’t just get fit for the summer but do it for life! Our ongoing green living challenge takes up urban fitness today with really simple tips to perfect a green work-out.
Operation Green Living to get you busy and multi tasking urbans started on an eco-friendly lifestyle with easy actionable and achievable steps is underway. We know some of you consider sustainable living a burden and some of you don’t know where to start. So we’ve got just the green living guide for you by our Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Mirela Orlovic that will show you how easy and fun it really is to live green. Because let’s face it, we can’t complain about urban pollution when we’re a big part of the problem. Let’s take control back and bring down our #CarbonKarma to lead a healthier life. Having touched upon how to reduce pollution cause by food and how to build an eco-friendly but stylish wardrobe. We’ve also touched upon other key aspects of urban life like plastic reduction, kickstarter to zero waste, urban commuting, greening your office and travel and even green laundry goals! We come to fitness. Over to Mirela.
GREEN LIVING FITNESS TIP: Train green for a fit body & fitter planet
I believe in a strong mind, body and planet! Like most global citizens, fitness is a crucial part of my life where I try to eat healthy and work out regularly. My addiction is outdoor running and trust me I can run harder than my mascara! But city running, while really cool, has a downside- pollution. I take steps to protect from pollution while running outdoors but today let’s examine how we can prevent pollution caused by our fitness regimens. From our work-out gear to food, our fitness routines can use some easy green fixes to leave a lesser carbon footprint. So let’s cut all carbs people including our carbon footprint in 3 easy steps.
›› SWEATING IT OUT IN GREEN STYLE
Buy sustainable fitness gear- training clothes and sneakers. Fitness wear is part function and part fashion. In fact sports wear and athleisure has even become very mainstream. But fitness wear is a part of the problematic fashion industry as far as pollution is concerned and especially so because of the textiles used to make it. You will find that sportswear is largely made of polysters, nylons, spandex etc- chemical fibres that come form crude oil and on top of that these materials are hard to decompose. Polyester takes up to 200 years to decompose! A new pair of synthetic running shoes typically generates 13 kgs of CO2 emissions, according to a team of MIT scientists.
From sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing to retailing and discarding, performance wear pollutes at every step. But a lot of leading and cult performance wear brands like Patagonia, Ice breaker have green and sustainable product offerings that you could opt for. From ethically sourced materials to fair trade practices and transparent supply chains, these brands are are pushing the boundaries of performance technology as well. Even mainstream sportswear brands like adidas and Nike are pushing the sustainability envelope. I’m especially kicked about the sustainable concept sneakers adidas Ultraboost in collaboration with Parley for the Oceans made with recycled ocean trash.
So work out in green style with top sustainable sportswear brands to minimise pollution. New York based start-up label PonyBabe is great sustainable leisure wear that’s perfect for work-outs like dancing, yoga etc- comfortable and really sexy. Munich based Yoga guru Selene Urban a.k.a Chandralactic also shared her top sustainable yoga wear brands with us. My personal pick for sustainable sneakers is Brooks which has a holistic and transparent approach to sustainability. Take a deeper look at the sustainable sneakers world here.
Seen above: ethical leisure wear by PonyBabe
›› CRUELTY FREE PROTEIN POWER
That dream ripped body should be three things: steroid free, injury free and cruelty free. Meat is the go to protein source for most of you lifters but we need to cut down on meat consumption. From massive energy usage to polluting natural resources like water systems to massive greenhouse gasses it generates, meat is one of the most polluting industries. And let’s not ignore how cruel and unethical as well the meat trade is. So cut down on meat consumption and go for equally good natural protein alternatives to meat that are sustainable and cruelty free. Even the original muscled wonder of the world Arnold Schwarzenegger has been telling us to go easy on meat.
›› RE-USEABLE WATER BOTTLE IS AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR I-POD
Too many times you pick up that PET plastic bottle and run with it. It’s my pet peeve when I run the Paris 10km half marathon- they keep doling out water to runners in plastic cups and PET bottles which makes the event not so sustainable. Even at the gym every time you drink water you help yourselves to plastic cups. Instead invest in a good re-usable non-plastic water bottle and make it a part of your fitness ritual. Having your own cool coffee sipper is the new urban phenomenon so why leave your work-out out of it?! I personally use Retap glass bottles which are lightweight and cool looking. Helps me cut down plastic usage in another area of my daily life.
3 smart ways to be Faster. Harder. Stronger. Greener. Have any more suggestions on ‘meistering’ a green work out then do write to contact@urbanmeisters.com or post your tip on social media with #GreeningIsWinning & tag @urbanmeisters (on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter). Let’s share our green experiences.
Read our green living tip 1 on food:
Read our green living tip 2 on fashion:
Read our green living tip 4 on zero waste life:
Read our green living tip 5 on laundry:
Read our green living tip 6 to go plastic free:
Read our green living tip 7 on green urban commute:
Read our green living tip 8 on greening your neighbourhood:
Read our green living tip 9 on greening your office:
Read our green living tip 10 on travelling green:
Stay tuned to the next GREEN LIVING tip on another crucial aspect of everyday urban life! Till then GET WITH GREEN OR GET OUT!